By Dean Hantzopoulos
Many of my friends may find it strange that someone of my age would be writing an article for a legacy society. After all, that is something you do at a later stage in life or after some unexpected news. I can assure my friends that for me something like this is not out of character. Legacy is something I have been thinking about for as long as I can remember and my support of Mystic Seaport Museum is a natural extension of that.
I started my career at the Museum in May 2012 and have never looked back or regretted my decision. At that time, I was a high school history teacher and was fortunate enough to stumble on a job posting in the Collections Research Center and applied on a whim. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I was not in need of a job at that time, but something told me to go for it. After all, what did I have to lose from an interview?
Since that day, I have had the opportunity to work in three of the Museum’s departments: Collections, Education, and Interpretation. In these years at the Museum, I have seen so many positive steps, which I have been able to play a small part in helping the institution to achieve. These included bringing tours of both school groups and members to the Charles W. Morgan while she was undergoing her restoration in the Shipyard, sailing with the Morgan on her 38th Voyage, participating in every new exhibition in our Era of Exhibitions, working on our overnight programming on the Joseph Conrad, and so much more that it would take a book to recount.
For all of these reasons Mystic Seaport Museum is, for me, not just an employer, for that is at the most basic level, but a home and a family.
A family that I feel privileged to be a part of and one that I try to do everything I can to make just a little bit better every day. That is why I have decided to include Mystic Seaport Museum in my estate planning, and I encourage anyone who feels that special connection to the Museum to consider doing the same. Future generations deserve to have Mystic Seaport Museum as a strong and vibrant resource that connects us to our past while helping every generation engage with our past and help shape our nation’s future.
